St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-23
FREDDY" BARRETT.
The State Produces That Much.
Wanted Individual.

The Tollefson murder case in the dis
trict court yesterday presented a
strange, unnatural spectacle. One
brother attempted to swear away the
lives of two brothers, and that, too, in the
presence of the mother that bore him.
Even the spectators were appalled,, evil
IDENTIFY not more by the awfulnesS of his
alleged confession than by the deyiliSh-
ness, ,cOwardice and depravity of the man
who seemingly turned against his own
flesh and blood to save himself or to
carry out some malignant revenge.
Either one or the other conclusion
forced itself upon the minds of the
spectators it was plain to see.
Henry Barrett, wien he took the stand,
conveyed the impression that he was a
man who was about to commit some
desperate deed, and who had nerved
himself to the utmost tension. His face
was pale. and he grasped the arms of the
chair almost convulsively when he took
his seat. He was carefully dressed, and
his appearance tailed with the manner
in which he gave his evidence-as
though he was made up for the Occa-
sion. He studiOusly avoided looking at
the faces of Tim, the brother, who is
the defendant, Pete, whose fate depends
largely upon the outcome of the trial.
the anxious mother and his aged father.
He looked at the floor. at the cell
ing, over the crowd, anywhere
but at them. He at times faltered and
appealed for protection to save himself
from the perSiStentand searching cross
examination of Mr.. Erwin, and yet often
answered readily, and almost seemed to
anticipate the questions asked him.
His was strange mixture of stOlidity
and hesitation, and the impression he
made was decidedly unfaVOrable. He
contradicted himself on his croSS-eXam-
ination as to his movements on the fatal
night. as well as the evidence of John
MeKinnon, the street car driver, who
testified to the Street-car blockade on
Washington avenue at the time of the
Big Boston fire. His statement in the
afternoon that. with Tim and Pete, he
stopped Cedar avenue car before COM
ing up town, was also a fiat cOntradic-
ton of his direct testimony, There were
many little flaws which the steel-eyed
attorney for the defense will pick up.
A number of times he started his SEN
fences with Il did'' so and so, but in
variably stopped and changed it to
''they." His evident confusion when
asked about the men Hart and Steele,
anu luo p0TcepllDl6 eUecG upon UHo
galaxy of detective talent in the rear of
the county attorney might be taken as
an indication that tender point had
been touched by the prosecution. One
of the points which the defense deftly
turned to It's advantage, was that the
county and city authorities had hamp-
cred and interfered with the prisoners
attorneys by preventing them from
holding interviews for the preparation
of the case. In reply to Judge Loch-
fen's suggestion that he was losing too
much time on the croSs-examination
Ir. Erwin said:
Al have never labOred under such
disadvantages as i have in this case. i
have made number of appointments
with the sheriff to see my clients, but
have been refused until this noon, when
! was locked in jail with them, where
there was such din and racket that it
was almost impossible for US to con-
converse"
Henry Barrett also testified that he
had been in charge of a deputy sheriff
named German at WacOnia until Satur-
day, which was a rather significant
statement in view of the fact that a
subpoena for Barrett by the defense had
been returned as mot found" by the
sheriff.